Have some doubts about my carry system

[crsuribe]

Hello everybody! I've been lurking here for a few days now and this is my first post. Excellent forum! Lots of good info and great folks! Glad to be here.

Anyway, I carry a Glock 20SF equipped with a TLR-1S weapon light and am getting some Trijicon GL04 night sights to go with it. I take this gun pretty much everywhere I go since it offers everything I want in a pistol. Only problem is its size and weight, but that doesn't bother me very much. Still, the options for carrying this pistol are rather limited, especially because of the light (not a lot of holsters out there that fit this combo), so I've been using an el cheapo shoulder holster, which isn't entirely too bad, just a little uncomfortable AND it makes it kinda hard to access the pistol if I'm wearing a jacket or some kinda garment that's zipped or buttoned all the way up, and this could potentially slow me down or even keep me from presenting my weapon under a stressful situation.

So I've been wondering.. what other options are there? Should I just save up for a little bit and buy an IWB holster that fits the light? They're expensive. OR I could make my own holster out of kydex, which is pretty easy actually.

I don't know, what do you guys think?

This is my current set-up:




[I need to vacuum ]

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[retsupt99]

For your EDC, I would remove the light and get a Fist holster. In situations that require the potential of a light source...add the light or carry a Surefire handheld. I have the Surefire X-300 for my G-21 and I keep the light on the firearm when home, but to carry it somewhere, the light would come off.
I just bought this one for my G-21 SF... http://www.fist-inc.com/holsters/holster/7.htm

[PAcanis]

Yeah, kinda what ret said.
I would figure out if the light was actually needed or not under your frequent carry conditions. If it isn't, I would remove it and put it back on at night. Get a system for the gun sans light and you always have your current one to fall back on.

[shockwave]

While the jury is still out on the question of a WML for a HD handgun, there doesn't seem to be much dispute about the need for one on the street.

Ditch the light.

[OD*]

If you want to keep your light on the pistol, which I don't think is a bad idea necessarily, I would look into Raven Concealment Systems, "The Phantom."
http://www.ravenconcealment.com/products/holsters.html

[Stevew]

I would ditch the light and go with a hand held light.

[TerriLi]

Personally I would not try a Kydex holster....personal opinion there. Leather, nylon, or the kydex leather hybrids are the most comfortable, pure kydex....not so much. I tried a few, but some people have good experiences with them. On the whole WML or seperate light thing....your choice. Just make sure you train with what ever you pick.

[DIABLO9489]

Remove the light and insert into a Crossbreed supertuck holster and you will be all set.
My daily carry is a 20sf in a CBST and I have no trouble concealing or carrying.

[crsuribe]

Well I train with the light and the thing is I carry in a lot of dark areas that also include a lot of dark back roads where Deliverance banjo type rednecks have done bad things to people before. I would not want to have to mess around with 2 separate objects (pistol and light) at the same time in a situation like that AND lose my support hand, on top of that. So I've settled for the pistol/light combo which, so far, works great (and will work even better when I add the night sights). See it is my opinion that it's important to be able to see your target, if you want to hit it. And in poor light or no light situations, night sights by themselves will only help you see your sights but not the target, especially if your encounter happens in a back road in the middle of the night where mr.banjo guy can take cover behind his truck or the bushes or just about anything out there. And, again, I don't wanna lose my support hand and have to worry about operating 2 things at the same time.

The weapon light I chose is very good for this purpose. It's quite bright (160lumens) and very easy to operate even with the index finger of your support hand, without losing or re-adjusting your grip and this way you can access all of the light's settings like the strobe mode or the temp/perm switch.

Also, I find myself somewhat deep in the woods after dark relatively often and, although I carry a hand-held light, it makes me feel better to know that I have a second, very bright light on my pistol and should I ever find myself in the middle of an epic battle against Bigfoot, and my flashlight drops on the ground as I proceed to soil my underwear, I'll still be able to see and fight my enemy if I manage to draw my pistol.

So I've been training a lot with the light and would feel naked without it, which is why I'd rather keep it on the pistol. It doesn't even add that much weight.. I barely notice the difference. Just makes it harder to find a good holster.

But anyway, I've used a C-Tac before, which was made out of Kydex and I found it pretty comfortable.. too bad they don't offer it for the G.20/TLR-1 combo. I do wish they offered the M-Tac for a pistol/light combo, though.. those holsters are niiiiiiiice.

But I was looking at Raven concealment (thank you for the link, OD)... I think I'll probably buy one to try.

[oneshot]

^^^^^I'm in the get rid of the light CAMP^^^^^^^^^^^


@ home maybe.
For EDC,, I say Nay ,Nay.

[QKShooter]

If you need the WML & it sounds like you have "thought it out" & you do - then I would "DITTO" the post by Forum Member OD.

[fastk9dad]

Well I train with the light and the thing is I carry in a lot of dark areas that also include a lot of dark back roads where Deliverance banjo type rednecks have done bad things to people before. I would not want to have to mess around with 2 separate objects (pistol and light) at the same time in a situation like that AND lose my support hand, on top of that. So I've settled for the pistol/light combo which, so far, works great (and will work even better when I add the night sights). See it is my opinion that it's important to be able to see your target, if you want to hit it. And in poor light or no light situations, night sights by themselves will only help you see your sights but not the target, especially if your encounter happens in a back road in the middle of the night where mr.banjo guy can take cover behind his truck or the bushes or just about anything out there. And, again, I don't wanna lose my support hand and have to worry about operating 2 things at the same time.

The weapon light I chose is very good for this purpose. It's quite bright (160lumens) and very easy to operate even with the index finger of your support hand, without losing or re-adjusting your grip and this way you can access all of the light's settings like the strobe mode or the temp/perm switch.

Also, I find myself somewhat deep in the woods after dark relatively often and, although I carry a hand-held light, it makes me feel better to know that I have a second, very bright light on my pistol and should I ever find myself in the middle of an epic battle against Bigfoot, and my flashlight drops on the ground as I proceed to soil my underwear, I'll still be able to see and fight my enemy if I manage to draw my pistol.

So I've been training a lot with the light and would feel naked without it, which is why I'd rather keep it on the pistol. It doesn't even add that much weight.. I barely notice the difference. Just makes it harder to find a good holster.

But anyway, I've used a C-Tac before, which was made out of Kydex and I found it pretty comfortable.. too bad they don't offer it for the G.20/TLR-1 combo. I do wish they offered the M-Tac for a pistol/light combo, though.. those holsters are niiiiiiiice.

But I was looking at Raven concealment (thank you for the link, OD)... I think I'll probably buy one to try.

I think the issue most people will have with a WML is that you stand the risk of lighting something up and thereby pointing your gun at something you do not want to shoot which violates a safety rule.

It has it's uses, like if you are clearing a house you now have a hand free to open doors and such, but for an CCW most will prefer a separate light which can be used independent of the gun.

[tracker 1]

the thing i would worry about a WML only out on the streets is that if you light someone up for any reason and the cops become involved you could have a problem, if you don't get shot for pointing a gun at them. if they or you say you shined the light on them, no matter why, you also have pointed a loaded gun at them. that is just one bad thing that could happen, i'm sure their could be others.

[crsuribe]

Well I'm not sure I understand... the only way I would shine my weapon light on somebody is if they're coming at me with the intention to hurt me and I have drawn my weapon to protect myself. I don't use it as a regular light..

Or did I totally misunderstand what you said?

Also, I was wondering, do you guys know if I absolutely have to order hooks for the Raven holster or does it come with some kinda system installed? I have some c-hooks from my C-tac that I plan on using so I don't have to pay them $20 just for the hooks.

[jwarren]

I think the issue most people will have with a WML is that you stand the risk of lighting something up and thereby pointing your gun at something you do not want to shoot which violates a safety rule.

It has it's uses, like if you are clearing a house you now have a hand free to open doors and such, but for an CCW most will prefer a separate light which can be used independent of the gun.

It actually does more than violate a safety rule to point a weapon at an innocent......it is a chargeable offense.....assault.

To each his own, but I just cannot justify have a WML on my CCW.